London -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- He 's brought bloodthirsty zombies , squalid junkies and murderous housemates to life on the big screen , but faced the toughest task of his career at London 2012 : bringing boogying nurses , bucolic scenes and butterflies on bicycles to a worldwide audience of a billion people .

Danny Boyle , the Oscar-winning director -- and east London resident -- best known for hit movies `` Trainspotting '' and `` Slumdog Millionaire '' was the man responsible for the Olympic opening ceremony , the show that televisions around the world were tuned in to at the start of London 's long-awaited Games .

And while those of his films set in Britain have painted a darkly comic picture of the country , `` Isles of Wonder '' -- the `` Tempest '' - inspired extravaganza which kicked off the Games -- proved much more of a celebration of the nation .

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A billion people across the globe tuned in for the three-hour , $ 42.4 m show , which featured 10,000 adult volunteers , 900 children , 12 horses , 10 chickens , nine geese , three cows and a flock of sheep .

With an uplifting , `` people power '' theme combining references to British history and pop culture , the rambunctious ceremony covered subjects as diverse as the Industrial Revolution , the National Health Service , popular children 's book characters including Peter Pan and Mary Poppins , and pop stars past and present .

It was well received in the United Kingdom and abroad , drawing an average audience of 40.7 million people in the US , topping the previous record of 39.8 million for the 1996 Atlanta Games .

`` The Ceremony is an attempt to capture a picture of ourselves as a nation , where we have come from and where we want to be , '' Boyle explained in a statement in the run-up to the Games , saying he hoped to tell the country 's story , with the help of a vast army of volunteers who , he said , `` are the purest embodiment of the Olympic spirit and represent the best of who we are as a nation . ''

`` We have to celebrate all that is great about the past but also all the potential Britain has in the future , '' said British Prime Minister David Cameron .

`` The difficulty is how do you cram in all that is great about our country , whether it is sport , art , literature , history , contribution to world events . I 'm confident they have done a good job and there were one or two moments I was really moved by . There 's something for everyone . ''

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Britons are known for their ability to laugh at themselves , and it appears Boyle sought to capitalize on this -- as The Economist noted recently , `` opening ceremonies are a country 's opportunity to sell itself to the world . Britain appears to be selling irony . ''

Olympics organizers say that Boyle 's experience , energy and unusual vision made him the perfect man for the job .

`` His ability as a storyteller , as a creator of spectacle , his background in both theater and film and the passion he has for this city and this project -- they all just screamed at us , '' said Bill Morris , director of Ceremonies for the London Games , when Boyle was appointed to the role . `` It was n't a difficult choice . ''

`` Danny gets this , '' London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe told CNN back in 2010 . `` He gets the Olympic Games , he gets sports , he lives in London , he 's a stone 's throw from the Olympic Park , and it was just such an obvious fit . ''

It was not always thus : Boyle , 55 , was born into a working-class family in Manchester , northern England , the son of a power plant worker and a cafeteria employee , and as a child had hoped to become a Catholic priest .

But after a school trip to see a much-lauded Royal Shakespeare Company performance of `` Richard II , '' and a visit to the cinema with classmates to see Stanley Kubrick 's controversial `` A Clockwork Orange , '' his ambitions turned instead to film and theater .

Boyle studied English and drama at university , before working at the RSC and at London 's innovative Royal Court Theatre , where he was deputy director in the 1980s .

He moved into television , and then on to movies , making his big screen debut with `` Shallow Grave , '' the darkly humorous tale of three flatmates who discover a suitcase full of cash when their new lodger dies of a drug overdose .

Despite being made on a shoestring budget -- Boyle is reported to have said the team behind it were forced to sell off furniture to buy film stock when the $ 1.55 m budget began to run short -- `` Shallow Grave '' became Britain 's biggest grossing film of 1995 , earning $ 20m worldwide , as well as a string of positive reviews .

He followed it up with `` Trainspotting '' -LRB- 1996 -RRB- the critically-acclaimed story of a group of Edinburgh heroin addicts , which launched the careers of Ewan McGregor , Kelly Macdonald -LRB- `` Boardwalk Empire '' -RRB- and Kevin McKidd -LRB- `` Grey 's Anatomy '' -RRB- , and was hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as `` a visionary knockout spiked with insight , wild invention and outrageous wit . ''

London welcomes world for Olympics opening ceremony

Its success -- the movie , which had cost just $ 2m to make , earned $ 72m -- prompted a move towards Hollywood , but Boyle 's career faltered with his first two big-budget projects , `` A Life Less Ordinary , '' and `` The Beach , '' and he briefly returned to television in the UK , before making his movie comeback with 2002 's post-apocalyptic zombie flick `` 28 Days Later . ''

He then changed tone , directing the more family-orientated family feature `` Millions , '' -LRB- 2004 -RRB- about two brothers who find a stash of pound notes only days before the UK is set to switch its currency to the euro .

Five years later , he scooped the Oscar for Best Director when `` Slumdog Millionaire , '' the story of a poor Indian teenager who wins a TV gameshow , swept the board at the 2009 Academy Awards .

And it is the uplifting , life-affirming mood of `` Slumdog Millionaire '' that the director brought to the opening ceremony , because despite the dark subject matter of many of his films , and his recent return to theater with a rapturously-received production of Frankenstein , Boyle insists he remains positive , an optimist .

Speaking in 2010 , he said : `` I want it to feel like a very genuine expression of the welcome to the athletes and to the Games of the city , and especially from east London . ''

As the athletes launch into competition in venues around his home , his ceremony 's combination of novelty , national pride and nuttiness seems to have accomplished exactly that .

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Danny Boyle is the mastermind behind the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony

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Boyle is best known for hit movies `` Slumdog Millionaire , '' `` 28 Days Later '' and `` Trainspotting ''

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Despite the films ' black humor , director insists his work is positive , life-affirming

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Ceremony tipped as `` expression of welcome , '' celebration of Britishness